With Notre Dame’s scoop-and-score called back, college football may have its greatest bad beat of the season

A lot was going on Saturday in South Bend. It began with Tommy Rees absolutely chewing out his quarterback and ended in one of the more crushing bad beats you’ll see.

Notre Dame (-13) led Cal 24-17 as the Bears set up in their own territory for a potential game-tying drive with just around a minute to play.

Just moments into the drive, Cal quarterback Jack Plummer was picked off by Notre Dame defensive back Clarence Lewis, ending Cal’s comeback attempt and putting the final dagger into the hearts of many who wagered on the Fighting Irish to cover.

Only, a targeting penalty on Notre Dame defensive back J.D. Bertrand canceled out the interception and put the ball back in Plummer’s hand with a new set of downs.

The Fighting Irish’s unlikely chance to cover the spread (-13) was now back in play

But, hold on.

Here come the Bears dinking and dunking their way down the field until suddenly, Plummer tried to extend a play and, boom — a fumble, a scoop, a score, a 30-17 Notre Dame lead with seconds remaining and a truly unthinkable backdoor-cover.

BUT, NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND, in my best Lee Corso impression.

The play was overturned as a replay review showed Cal’s quarterback had a knee down before coughing up the ball.

Notre Dame (-13.5) returns the fumble for a TD putting them an extra point away from the cover…

But the QB was ruled down 😭 pic.twitter.com/PnjxzQVPQ0

— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) September 17, 2022

The Bears got the ball back for one last play and ended up having to heave a desperation throw into the endzone on the final play of the game.

Here’s how it ended:

CAL (+425 ML) ALMOST PULLED OFF A MIRACLE 😱pic.twitter.com/wljz4xZDCX

— br_betting (@br_betting) September 17, 2022

Appropriate ending, right?

Notre Dame fans can breathe, while Fighting Irish bettors who took the spread might need a shoulder to cry on.